Victoria Masked Weaver (1 Viewer)

[Ian Lewis]

Victoria Masked Weaver was first described (I believe by John Ash) in 1986 as a new species Ploceus victoriae but was later dismissed as a hybrid Black-headed P melanocephalus x Northern Brown-throated P castanops Weaver.

I have just seen this form in Uganda and it appears by all accounts to breed in pure colonies and exist along side the other two species without the existence of intergrades. Also melanocephalus and castanops meet elsewhere in their range but to my knowledge there are no other records of apparent hybrids.

Does anyone know if the specimen(s) has undergone any genetic analysis or if there is any research being conducted on this taxon to resolve its status?

Ian

 

[Avian conservationUGS]

Victoria Masked Weaver was first described (I believe by John Ash) in 1986 as a new species Ploceus victoriae but was later dismissed as a hybrid Black-headed P melanocephalus x Northern Brown-throated P castanops Weaver.

I have just seen this form in Uganda and it appears by all accounts to breed in pure colonies and exist along side the other two species without the existence of intergrades. Also melanocephalus and castanops meet elsewhere in their range but to my knowledge there are no other records of apparent hybrids.

Does anyone know if the specimen(s) has undergone any genetic analysis or if there is any research being conducted on this taxon to resolve its status?

Ian

Hello Ian, one of our members at Avian conservation Uganda society took this photo and we’re wondering if this could be the same bird ?

 

[THE_FERN]

I'm unfamiliar with this and with Northern masked weaver. After downloading the paper, I'd say the mask pattern in ebird headline images and the illustrations in Fanshawe agree for Northern masked weaver. They match the image above. I'd also suggest this pattern better matches the victoriae sketch in the paper rather than the northern masked weaver (taeniopterus) sketch. That might beg the question of what the latter represents...

Anyway thanks for bringing this to my attention

 

[Maffong]

Sorry for digging up this old thread, but I just came across it, while looking into Ugandan weavers:

A small population of supposed Northern Masked-Weavers exists around the town of Fort Portal in Western, Uganda. According to ebird data, it has been known since at least 2016.
The birds in the photographs on eBird, however, look slightly different from other Northern Masked-Weavers and match the description of Victoria Masked-Weaver, Ploceus victoriae, a taxon described in 1986, but not currently recognised by any reference checklist of the world, mainly because the species appears to be unknown in life?!

The bill appears more slender, the black mask is a little more extensive on crown and around the eye and the eye is brown rather than blackish. Wing measurements and social behaviour should also differ.

Pictures can be found here:
Northern Masked-Weaver - Ploceus taeniopterus - Media Search - Macaulay Library and eBird

The original paper Ash, J. S. (1986): A Ploceus sp. nov. from Uganda - Ibis 128: 330-336 can be accessed online(e.g. using Sci-hub). According to that, the taxon should also occur around Entebbe, or at least used to occur there.

I would love to hear more opinions on the matter and perhaps people from the area could look further into this matter.

Uganda might have a second endemic bird species (for now).

 

[halftwo]

Hi, Mathieu.

I've managed to find the abstract only for this paper, & then got blocked by Sci-hub!

 

[Maffong]

There are different sci-hub websites available, try another one

 

[Markus Lagerqvist]

I remember that we had weavers at Nyamuriro wetland in Uganda that seemed to fit the description of Victoria Weaver, that our local guide also claimed was this taxon, although calling them "Entebbe Weaver". Unfortunately I have no pictures since my camera broke down at the beginning of the trip.